LOTUS LANDS TOP INDUSTRY AWARD

LOTUS Engineering, the consultancy division of the business, has been named ‘Dynamics Team of the Year' at the prestigious Vehicle Dynamics International Awards 2021.

It's a fitting tribute to what's been a hugely productive and high profile year for the team, as Lotus transitions from a UK sports car company to a global performance car business and brand.

The prize was voted for by a jury of more than 20 global automotive media and picking out examples of Lotus Engineering's successful 2021, the judges were full of praise for the development and ongoing commercialisation of four new Lotus vehicle architectures, first announced in April.

These will underpin every new Lotus for the foreseeable future, including the Type 132, Lotus' first SUV; the Evija all-electric hypercar; and the Emira sports car, the company's last petrol-powered model.

Customer deliveries of Evija and Emira will begin during 2022 while Type 132 arrives the following year.

SURGE IN LOW EMISSION VEHICLE SALES

THE strength of the European new car market continued to deteriorate last month.

In November, registrations posted the lowest level for the month over the last 30 years.

JATO Dynamics' data revealed a total volume of 855,281 units, across 25 European markets.

Compared to November 2020, the total volume last month was 18 per cent lower than last year and 29 per cent lower when compared to November 2019 - before the pandemic had hit the market.

Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics, commented: "Although the market has not recovered entirely from the pandemic, the current problem does not relate to a lack of demand, but rather a lack of supply."

As a result, year-to-date growth in registrations fell to just 0.4 per cent compared to 2020, and the year is expected to end with similarly low figures.

Munoz added: "When you consider the chip shortage in combination with local lockdowns experienced over the course of this year, there is a clear backlog of consumers wishing to renew their cars.

"This delay could have two main impacts: the first being that we see a large uptick in registrations next year if the shortage is solved; the second that consumers begin to adapt their buying patterns, moving toward keeping their vehicles for longer periods."

VAUXHALL REVISES ELECTRIC CAR PRICING

VAUXHALL has repositioned the pricing of its all-electric Corsa-e and Mokka-e models in light of the recent changes to the Government's Plug-in Car Grant meaning that the Vauxhall electric car range now starts from £25,805 on-the-road (including PiCG).

That's the tab for a Corsa-e SE model, while the Mokka-e now starts at £29,365 for an SE variant, representing a reduction of £3,000 in each case.

Vauxhall chief Paul Willcox said: "Vauxhall wants to move the UK to electric motoring as quickly as possible, which is why we have committed to being an electric-only brand from 2028.

"In light of a further evolution to the Government Plug-in Car Grant, we have taken the decision to change our pricing policy on our all-electric Corsa-e and Mokka-e models.

With more attainable pricing from significant reductions on both models, as well as the grant, we hope to put zero-emissions-in-use motoring within the reach of even more British motorists."

The revised pricing is in lieu of previous customer offers.

SUZUKI VOTED TOPS FOR RELIABILITY

SUZUKI is celebrating good news from the results of the 2022 What Car? Reliability Survey in which readers report on their car ownership experience from six up to 15 years old.

Of the 27 car brands measured, Suzuki is at the top of the brand league table with a score of 97.0 per cent.

The magazine received more than 16,300 owner responses across all manufacturers and measured 139 different used models across the industry.

Owners praised Suzuki for having very few faults to report in their ownership as well as being inexpensive to repair.

The Vitara recorded 100 per cent reliability with no faults at all reported from owners and was one of only three cars measured to score 100 per cent in the survey.

The good news continued for the popular Swift too as owners reported 97.8 per cent reliability and no repair bill exceeding £100 of the small faults reported.

Swift was 13 per cent up on the average small car class rating in the survey.